News

One of my favourite quotes from one of my favourite humans @brendanbrazier, who has been such an inspiration to me throughout VALA. Brendan is a well known vegan professional triathlete and has always been well ahead of the curve when it comes to plant-based eating. He's author of the iconic book 'THRIVE' (published in 2007) which charts his journey to adopting a more plant-based diet during his triathlon career. It’s also packed with insightful information as well as lots of simple recipes and I’d highly recommend reading it.⁣⁣It's so easy to put pressure on ourselves to try and get everything right...

When skimming VALA's ingredients list, you might have noticed 'matcha tea'. This vibrant green powder is made from ground up young tea leaves. Most of us have brewed green tea bags at some point, where the tea leaves are steeped in water. However, matcha powder involves drinking the ground whole leaf and therefore has greater health benefits, as you're consuming the whole chlorophyll-packed leaf rather than just the water that it's boiled in. Matcha is full of antioxidants called catechins, which reduce inflammation. It also contains polyphenols, which is the most potent antioxidant and matcha has more of this than...

This week’s workout is brought to you all the way from Canada by our favourite Welsh PT @lia_sweatsalot. It’s an outdoor HIIT and run combo that’s guaranteed to make you break a sweat, whilst injecting some fun into your home workout routine. Here’s Lia with the goods...⁣⁣RUN ⁣⁣Start with your run. I usually run 3km to my favourite beach in Vancouver where I stop to do the HIIT session, but you can pause half way on your favourite route. Rest for 2 mins once you get there to catch your breath.⁣⁣HIIT ⁣⁣For the HIIT section, we’re going to do the following...

This week we're catching up with VALA ambassador and triathlete Jamie Price. We'll find out what inspired Jamie to start training for triathlons, what he loves about them and what his top tips are for aspiring triathletes. Jamie is part of the Welsh Triathlon team and is most definitely one to watch!    Hey Jamie, can you tell us a bit about yourself? I'm 21 years old and got into triathlons when I was 16 and living on an island called Bahrain in the Middle East. From there, I travelled around the Middle East racing for the island and trying to better myself. This opened a lot of doors and gave me an amazing escape from school....

It’s pretty safe to say that most people have never tasted a combination of maple syrup, date paste, lemon juice, lime juice, powdered chia seeds, matcha tea powder and sea salt before, let alone seen it! Here's what seven natural ingredients - all free from preservatives and additives - blended together to create a 'natural' energy gel look like.⁣⁣As our base ingredients are maple syrup and date paste, expect an initial naturally sweet hit from your first mouthful of VALA with a subtle citrus aftertaste from the lemon and lime juices. It’s time to wave goodbye to the watery gels...

Setting a goal is scary because we often don't want to mess up or feel stupid, as things didn't work out in the way we imagined. I know this feeling well! When I had the idea for VALA, my sensible brain said "But what if it doesn't work out? Stay in the day job with a regular salary". However, the optimistic part of my brain said "What if it DOES work out? What if you create a gel that people love? What if you look back and think I'm glad I took the chance?". The advice from my family was...